Some properties of Hopf-type constructions

Abstract

If f: X × Y → Z is a map, then the classical Hopf construction associates to f a map hf: X * Y → ΣZ, where X * Y is the join of X and Y and ΣZ the suspension of Z. Since X * Y has the homotopy type of Σ(X Λ Y), the suspension of the smash product of X and Y, the homotopy class of hf can be regarded as an element Hf ↦ [Σ(X Λ Y), ΣZ]. Now elements of [Σ(X Λ Y), ] are in one to one correspondence with homotopy classes in the group [σ(X Λ Y), ΣZ] which are trivial on the suspension of the wedge Σ(X ≷ Y).